July will see the transfer of thousands of recipients from old-style benefits to Universal Credit. With an emphasis on those claiming income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) in addition to Child Tax Credit, the DWP's second phase of the Universal Credit rollout is about to commence.

Thus far, the Department for Work and Pensions' controlled migration has mostly targeted those who are eligible for the Child Tax Credit and/or Working Tax Credit. Income Support recipients and those receiving tax credits in addition to Housing Benefits were urged to switch over in April.

Those who currently only get Housing Benefit are being urged to convert to Universal Credit during the month of June. The first group of people to make the transition from Employment and Support Allowance—those who also receive Child Tax Credit—will do so in July. Letters informing around 90,000 individuals that they have three months to switch to Universal Credit are scheduled to be sent out.

 The remaining 800,000 who receive ESA, either on its own or with Housing Benefit. are expected to be moved across between September 2024 and the end of December 2025, years earlier than their originally scheduled timeframe of 2028/2029. A trial run involving hundreds of these vulnerable claimants has been taking place in June to make sure any issues are resolved before the process ramps up in September.

The DWP said: "Many customers will be better off on Universal Credit compared to legacy benefits and we estimate around half of our ESA and ESA with Housing Benefit customers would receive over £100 a month more on Universal Credit. Customers will also be able to benefit from improved work incentives and enhanced labour market support for those who want it.

"Our current planning assumption is that we would begin notifying this group in September 2024, with the aim of notifying everyone to make the move by December 2025."

The expansion of Universal Credit to replace legacy benefits comes as it emerged that thousands of people on tax credits have failed to make the switch when asked to do so, meaning their existing payments are abruptly terminated with no going back. Anti-poverty charity Z2K says this is leaving people around £412.50 a month - or £4,950 a year - worse off.

Ayla Ozmen, director of policy and campaigns at Z2K, said: "The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has now cut off benefits worth over £500 million from people who have missed their deadline to move to Universal Credit.

"The DWP recently announced it would speed up plans for managed migration to UC, including bringing forward the migration of 800,000 seriously ill and disabled people on Employment and Support Allowance, so it's really critical that the next government gets this right and stops cutting off vital income."